Cuts to bus routes could lead to job loss for Guelph commuters

The upcoming cuts to Greyhound’s commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener may end up costing people their jobs.

On Monday, Greyhound will be following a new bus schedule — one that offers 15 per cent less trips back and forth between Guelph and Kitchener. Under the new schedule, the 7:15 a.m. bus has been eliminated. The earliest bus out of Guelph is now the 8:15 a.m. and it won’t arrive in Kitchener until after 9 a.m.

Barbara Sim said she and roughly a dozen others rely on the 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph every day. This past summer she took a job in Kitchener as the senior accountant at a construction firm. The new job allowed her to put an offer down on a condo near the Greyhound stop at Guelph Central Station.

She’s set to move in at the end of January, but fears she may lose her job before then. Starting Monday, she said she’ll be carpooling with a colleague to get to work on time, but added carpooling is only a short-term fix.

Gerry Callaghan also relies on the early bus leaving Guelph. Working at the University of Waterloo as a lecturer and extended learning co-ordinator, he’s been relying on Greyhound’s commuter service for years, leaving Guelph on the 7:15 bus and taking the 4:45 or 6:30 bus back home in the evening.

The service change is “massively inconvenient,” he said, but won’t likely cost him his job. It just mean’s he’ll be starting late every morning taking more work home with him at night. The 4:45 p.m. bus back to Guelph will still run, but the 6:30 trip is being axed. Now the next bus out of Kitchener after the 4:15 is four hours later at 8:15.

“There really is a complete vacuum of commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener, because Greyhound’s the only game in town,” he said.

The only other option is taking a GO bus through Aberfoyle, but that could end up taking around two hours with the connections and wait times.

A 15 per cent reduction in buses

David Butler, Greyhound’s regional vice president for eastern Canada, said the scheduling cuts, or “frequency adjustment,” is due to low ridership on certain schedules. Instead of operating 301 trips between Guelph and Kitchener each week, starting on Monday Greyhound will offer 257 — a 15 per cent reduction.

“We just can’t continue to operate schedules that are not turning a profit,” he said.

The 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph is one of those schedules, he said. Last year, this bus carried a daily average of 8.13 people. This year — measuring between autumn 2016 and autumn 2017 — the bus carried an average of 6.16 people, he said.

“You can imagine a 50-seat bus carrying on average six people is certainly not profitable.”

“Maybe they aren’t counting pass holders,” he said, trying to make sense of the numbers Greyhound is providing. He said he usually sees between 10 and 12 people on the bus each morning.

Twice last week and once this week, the 7:15 a.m. bus never arrived at Guelph Central Station. Each day, the 12 or so people waiting were provided with cabs to get them to Kitchener, Callaghan said.

On the morning of Dec. 1, commuters waiting for the 7:15 Greyhound bus had to take cabs to Kitchener after the bus failed to arrive.

'These are difficult business decisions'

Butler called the scheduling cuts “deeply regrettable.

“We recognize that every business decision we make will have a personal impact on someone,” he said. “These are difficult business decisions that we have to make, but they have to be made sometimes.

“We’re a private company and we’re completely dependent on our fare box,” he said, adding the company hopes those affected by these cuts will migrate to other schedules that work for them.

In a previous interview with Greyhound spokesperson Lanesha Gipson, incorrect information was provided about the upcoming changes. This information was published in a Mercury Tribune story in late November. Butler apologized for the misinformation that was provided.

Holding a monopoly on routes

In 2016, the Ministry of Transportation proposed several changes to its regulations for private bus operators in an effort to “modernize” the intercity bus system in Ontario. Included in the proposal was a recommendation to change licensing requirements to allow smaller vans to transport people between municipalities.

Currently, vehicles carrying less than 10 passengers are not regulated to transport passengers for-hire between municipalities.

Under Ontario’s regulatory framework, bus companies have been granted public vehicle licences that never expire and never have to be renewed. According to the Ministry of Transportation, “If the route on which a bus company is licensed becomes unprofitable for example, the company can discontinue services but continue to hold the licence and could potentially object to any new entrants applying for a licence to service that route.”

These licences were provided with the understanding that companies would use profits from certain popular routes to fund less profitable routes, the ministry said in its proposal. This practice has declined in recent years.

'We're being used as pawns'

Barbara Sim said she thinks Greyhound is shutting down commuter routes as a way of pushing the province to allow them to use commuter buses or smaller vehicles.

“We’re being used as pawns in their battle with the Ministry of Transportation,” she said.

When asked about the MTO proposal, Butler said it was too early for him to comment. He said he welcomes dialogue around revamping the system, but it's not yet clear on what changes are actually being put forward.

Reached on Wednesday, Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said he would eventually like to see municipalities working together to provide a more seamless transportation service throughout the region. Next year during the city’s transit service review, Guthrie said he plans on discussing how Guelph Transit could better connect with Kitchener, Fergus, Rockwood, Cambridge and all other surrounding municipalities.

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have disrupted the more traditional modes of transportation, and municipalities need to evolve too, he said.

“We need to start thinking bigger,” he said, adding collaboration between municipalities is needed to best move people around.

Cuts to bus routes could lead to job loss for Guelph commuters

Greyhound is cutting 15 per cent of their buses between Guelph and Kitchener

The upcoming cuts to Greyhound’s commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener may end up costing people their jobs.

On Monday, Greyhound will be following a new bus schedule — one that offers 15 per cent less trips back and forth between Guelph and Kitchener. Under the new schedule, the 7:15 a.m. bus has been eliminated. The earliest bus out of Guelph is now the 8:15 a.m. and it won’t arrive in Kitchener until after 9 a.m.

Barbara Sim said she and roughly a dozen others rely on the 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph every day. This past summer she took a job in Kitchener as the senior accountant at a construction firm. The new job allowed her to put an offer down on a condo near the Greyhound stop at Guelph Central Station.

She’s set to move in at the end of January, but fears she may lose her job before then. Starting Monday, she said she’ll be carpooling with a colleague to get to work on time, but added carpooling is only a short-term fix.

“There really is a complete vacuum of commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener, because Greyhound’s the only game in town.”

Gerry Callaghan also relies on the early bus leaving Guelph. Working at the University of Waterloo as a lecturer and extended learning co-ordinator, he’s been relying on Greyhound’s commuter service for years, leaving Guelph on the 7:15 bus and taking the 4:45 or 6:30 bus back home in the evening.

The service change is “massively inconvenient,” he said, but won’t likely cost him his job. It just mean’s he’ll be starting late every morning taking more work home with him at night. The 4:45 p.m. bus back to Guelph will still run, but the 6:30 trip is being axed. Now the next bus out of Kitchener after the 4:15 is four hours later at 8:15.

“There really is a complete vacuum of commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener, because Greyhound’s the only game in town,” he said.

The only other option is taking a GO bus through Aberfoyle, but that could end up taking around two hours with the connections and wait times.

A 15 per cent reduction in buses

David Butler, Greyhound’s regional vice president for eastern Canada, said the scheduling cuts, or “frequency adjustment,” is due to low ridership on certain schedules. Instead of operating 301 trips between Guelph and Kitchener each week, starting on Monday Greyhound will offer 257 — a 15 per cent reduction.

“We just can’t continue to operate schedules that are not turning a profit,” he said.

The 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph is one of those schedules, he said. Last year, this bus carried a daily average of 8.13 people. This year — measuring between autumn 2016 and autumn 2017 — the bus carried an average of 6.16 people, he said.

“You can imagine a 50-seat bus carrying on average six people is certainly not profitable.”

“Maybe they aren’t counting pass holders,” he said, trying to make sense of the numbers Greyhound is providing. He said he usually sees between 10 and 12 people on the bus each morning.

Twice last week and once this week, the 7:15 a.m. bus never arrived at Guelph Central Station. Each day, the 12 or so people waiting were provided with cabs to get them to Kitchener, Callaghan said.

On the morning of Dec. 1, commuters waiting for the 7:15 Greyhound bus had to take cabs to Kitchener after the bus failed to arrive.

'These are difficult business decisions'

Butler called the scheduling cuts “deeply regrettable.

“We recognize that every business decision we make will have a personal impact on someone,” he said. “These are difficult business decisions that we have to make, but they have to be made sometimes.

“We’re a private company and we’re completely dependent on our fare box,” he said, adding the company hopes those affected by these cuts will migrate to other schedules that work for them.

In a previous interview with Greyhound spokesperson Lanesha Gipson, incorrect information was provided about the upcoming changes. This information was published in a Mercury Tribune story in late November. Butler apologized for the misinformation that was provided.

Holding a monopoly on routes

In 2016, the Ministry of Transportation proposed several changes to its regulations for private bus operators in an effort to “modernize” the intercity bus system in Ontario. Included in the proposal was a recommendation to change licensing requirements to allow smaller vans to transport people between municipalities.

Currently, vehicles carrying less than 10 passengers are not regulated to transport passengers for-hire between municipalities.

Under Ontario’s regulatory framework, bus companies have been granted public vehicle licences that never expire and never have to be renewed. According to the Ministry of Transportation, “If the route on which a bus company is licensed becomes unprofitable for example, the company can discontinue services but continue to hold the licence and could potentially object to any new entrants applying for a licence to service that route.”

These licences were provided with the understanding that companies would use profits from certain popular routes to fund less profitable routes, the ministry said in its proposal. This practice has declined in recent years.

'We're being used as pawns'

Barbara Sim said she thinks Greyhound is shutting down commuter routes as a way of pushing the province to allow them to use commuter buses or smaller vehicles.

“We’re being used as pawns in their battle with the Ministry of Transportation,” she said.

When asked about the MTO proposal, Butler said it was too early for him to comment. He said he welcomes dialogue around revamping the system, but it's not yet clear on what changes are actually being put forward.

Reached on Wednesday, Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said he would eventually like to see municipalities working together to provide a more seamless transportation service throughout the region. Next year during the city’s transit service review, Guthrie said he plans on discussing how Guelph Transit could better connect with Kitchener, Fergus, Rockwood, Cambridge and all other surrounding municipalities.

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have disrupted the more traditional modes of transportation, and municipalities need to evolve too, he said.

“We need to start thinking bigger,” he said, adding collaboration between municipalities is needed to best move people around.

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Cuts to bus routes could lead to job loss for Guelph commuters

Greyhound is cutting 15 per cent of their buses between Guelph and Kitchener

The upcoming cuts to Greyhound’s commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener may end up costing people their jobs.

On Monday, Greyhound will be following a new bus schedule — one that offers 15 per cent less trips back and forth between Guelph and Kitchener. Under the new schedule, the 7:15 a.m. bus has been eliminated. The earliest bus out of Guelph is now the 8:15 a.m. and it won’t arrive in Kitchener until after 9 a.m.

Barbara Sim said she and roughly a dozen others rely on the 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph every day. This past summer she took a job in Kitchener as the senior accountant at a construction firm. The new job allowed her to put an offer down on a condo near the Greyhound stop at Guelph Central Station.

She’s set to move in at the end of January, but fears she may lose her job before then. Starting Monday, she said she’ll be carpooling with a colleague to get to work on time, but added carpooling is only a short-term fix.

“There really is a complete vacuum of commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener, because Greyhound’s the only game in town.”

Gerry Callaghan also relies on the early bus leaving Guelph. Working at the University of Waterloo as a lecturer and extended learning co-ordinator, he’s been relying on Greyhound’s commuter service for years, leaving Guelph on the 7:15 bus and taking the 4:45 or 6:30 bus back home in the evening.

The service change is “massively inconvenient,” he said, but won’t likely cost him his job. It just mean’s he’ll be starting late every morning taking more work home with him at night. The 4:45 p.m. bus back to Guelph will still run, but the 6:30 trip is being axed. Now the next bus out of Kitchener after the 4:15 is four hours later at 8:15.

“There really is a complete vacuum of commuter service between Guelph and Kitchener, because Greyhound’s the only game in town,” he said.

The only other option is taking a GO bus through Aberfoyle, but that could end up taking around two hours with the connections and wait times.

A 15 per cent reduction in buses

David Butler, Greyhound’s regional vice president for eastern Canada, said the scheduling cuts, or “frequency adjustment,” is due to low ridership on certain schedules. Instead of operating 301 trips between Guelph and Kitchener each week, starting on Monday Greyhound will offer 257 — a 15 per cent reduction.

“We just can’t continue to operate schedules that are not turning a profit,” he said.

The 7:15 a.m. bus out of Guelph is one of those schedules, he said. Last year, this bus carried a daily average of 8.13 people. This year — measuring between autumn 2016 and autumn 2017 — the bus carried an average of 6.16 people, he said.

“You can imagine a 50-seat bus carrying on average six people is certainly not profitable.”

“Maybe they aren’t counting pass holders,” he said, trying to make sense of the numbers Greyhound is providing. He said he usually sees between 10 and 12 people on the bus each morning.

Twice last week and once this week, the 7:15 a.m. bus never arrived at Guelph Central Station. Each day, the 12 or so people waiting were provided with cabs to get them to Kitchener, Callaghan said.

On the morning of Dec. 1, commuters waiting for the 7:15 Greyhound bus had to take cabs to Kitchener after the bus failed to arrive.

'These are difficult business decisions'

Butler called the scheduling cuts “deeply regrettable.

“We recognize that every business decision we make will have a personal impact on someone,” he said. “These are difficult business decisions that we have to make, but they have to be made sometimes.

“We’re a private company and we’re completely dependent on our fare box,” he said, adding the company hopes those affected by these cuts will migrate to other schedules that work for them.

In a previous interview with Greyhound spokesperson Lanesha Gipson, incorrect information was provided about the upcoming changes. This information was published in a Mercury Tribune story in late November. Butler apologized for the misinformation that was provided.

Holding a monopoly on routes

In 2016, the Ministry of Transportation proposed several changes to its regulations for private bus operators in an effort to “modernize” the intercity bus system in Ontario. Included in the proposal was a recommendation to change licensing requirements to allow smaller vans to transport people between municipalities.

Currently, vehicles carrying less than 10 passengers are not regulated to transport passengers for-hire between municipalities.

Under Ontario’s regulatory framework, bus companies have been granted public vehicle licences that never expire and never have to be renewed. According to the Ministry of Transportation, “If the route on which a bus company is licensed becomes unprofitable for example, the company can discontinue services but continue to hold the licence and could potentially object to any new entrants applying for a licence to service that route.”

These licences were provided with the understanding that companies would use profits from certain popular routes to fund less profitable routes, the ministry said in its proposal. This practice has declined in recent years.

'We're being used as pawns'

Barbara Sim said she thinks Greyhound is shutting down commuter routes as a way of pushing the province to allow them to use commuter buses or smaller vehicles.

“We’re being used as pawns in their battle with the Ministry of Transportation,” she said.

When asked about the MTO proposal, Butler said it was too early for him to comment. He said he welcomes dialogue around revamping the system, but it's not yet clear on what changes are actually being put forward.

Reached on Wednesday, Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie said he would eventually like to see municipalities working together to provide a more seamless transportation service throughout the region. Next year during the city’s transit service review, Guthrie said he plans on discussing how Guelph Transit could better connect with Kitchener, Fergus, Rockwood, Cambridge and all other surrounding municipalities.

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have disrupted the more traditional modes of transportation, and municipalities need to evolve too, he said.

“We need to start thinking bigger,” he said, adding collaboration between municipalities is needed to best move people around.